The realities and risks of public safety are evolving. And no one knows this better than a city’s front-line personnel—the police officers, firefighters, 911 call center operators, emergency response personnel, and all those who serve to keep our communities safe. Every day, they team up to respond to unexpected situations or protect big city events. But too often, siloed systems create a disconnect between systems and agencies. And, operators struggle to make sense of all the data they receive from various sensors and solutions.

What these public safety departments need is a common operating picture and a deeper understanding of what’s happening in their city. They need a solution that allows them to have a complete view of an evolving situation so that they can better coordinate their efforts.

Seeing the City of Chicago through one shared lens

The Chicago Police Department recently implemented a new decision support system, Genetec Citigraf™. This application unifies and connects a city’s most important public safety systems. Citigraf analyzes and correlates data from once standalone systems, detects patterns, and transforms raw data into actionable insights. It then distributes these insights across teams and departments. Citigraf gives everyone from call center operators to first responders a clear perspective on a situation which strengthens their collaboration.

Proven to reduce response time by 39%

At the Chicago Police Department, the decision support system combines their computer-assisted dispatch (CAD), 911 calls from residents, gunshot detection sensors, and other disparate systems. The goal is to reduce the response time for reported shootings and crime in six police districts. Jonathan Lewin, Chief of Technical Services for the Chicago Police Department, shared the results: “Since rolling out Genetec Citigraf [one year ago], response times from dispatch to 'on-scene' arrival time, have been reduced by 39% and 24% respectively, in our two most at-risk districts. Shootings are down 22% in these districts compared to 2016. [This] helped us send a strong message to the community that crime and gun violence get a swift response.”

Learning from the past to prepare for the future

While Citigraf is proven to enhance collaboration and speeds up response time, it does even more. The system gives city officials a new way to measure and determine the effectiveness of procedures or specific campaigns. For example, a police department could run a report to quickly compare crime rates before and after installing new cameras in a specific location. Or, emergency managers can review responses to past events to better prepare their staff in handling certain situations.

Bring your public safety teams together

A common operating picture helps public safety teams better detect, respond, plan and prevent disturbances in a city. And now with Citigraf, getting a shared operational view is affordable and easy.